Friday, September 12, 2014

If
you are leading a business and want to know how to provide great
service, then read on and learn how a team of volunteers from the
Montrose Football Club who play in Division 1 of the Eastern Football
league provided an experience that the USA Revolution will never forget.
This story will teach you about the power of creating a shared vision,
the preparedness to tap into the special skills that people bring to
their work and the willingness to work with competitors to create a
service that produced mutual benefits for all involved. What business
wouldn’t like to learn these lessons!

The AFL International Cup
(AFLIC14) has recently concluded with Papua New Guinea defeating
Ireland in an exciting and dramatic game at the Melbourne Cricket
Ground.

18
countries competed over 13 days in both mens and women’s competitions.
Every player had to be a citizen of their country so no ex-pat
Australians were included in their teams. This was truly an
international competition.

In
a stroke of genius the third round of the competition saw local teams
throughout Melbourne host teams involved in the AFL International Cup,
culminating in the Community Round where AFLIC14 games were held as the
curtain raiser to the ‘main local game’.

My twin brother Denis Ryan is both the President of USAFL and the mid-field coach for the USA Revolution (the men’s team).

The
USA Revolution squad, coaches and support staff were ‘blown away’ by
the hospitality shown by Montrose Chairman Rob Ewart, Senior President
Tony Eastwood and their dedicated Sub-Committee that was led by Rod
Buncle and Terry Dean as well as their band of merry helpers. While the
USA Revolution were hoping for a ‘good’ experience from the Community
Round, what they received was better than any of them could have
imagined.

Lesson #1 Identify mutual benefits

Like
most success stories the real work started many months ago when the EFL
sent out an expression of interest to all its clubs about applying to
become a ‘host’ for one of the games. Senior Club President Tony
Eastwood saw the opportunity as one that would enable Montrose to take
significant steps toward bringing its vision of being, “Seen as a quality EFL Division 1 club” into reality. He immediately contacted his Blackburn Football Club
counterpart and discussed the possibility of putting in a joint
expression of interest with Montrose to host the USA Revolution and
Blackburn to host the New Zealand Hawks.

While
fierce competitors on the field, the Montrose and Blackburn Football
Clubs understand that they both have a responsibility to grow the game
and to set high behavioural standards for their members, players and
communities. The clubs play off for the One Punch Cup which is a game where they raise awareness about the dangers and injuries that arise from nightclub fights. (Kyle
Matthews was playing for the Casey Scorpions as an up and coming VFL
star. He was punched in a fight at a nightclub, fell and hit his head
causing serious head injuries. Kyle has an association with the
Blackburn Football Club and his best friend plays at Montrose).

Leveraging
the success of working together on the One Punch Cup the two clubs’
application to the EFL was accepted and the third round game of the
AFLIC14 was scheduled to be played at Montrose.

Lesson #2 Give talented people the autonomy to use their talent

Terry Dean and Rod Buncle
quickly formed a sub-committee to make sure that the day was a success.
They worked with their team including Jenny McArdle, Kerry Schilling and
members from the Montrose Coterie Group to make sure that the day was a
special event for everyone. Using his corporate skills, Rod created a
very detailed schedule of events that also included a link to the AFL’s
vision for the community round. This ensured that everyone involved in
hosting the event, which was upwards of 35 people, knew exactly what
they had to do and when to do it. This is an example of letting good people use their talents and skills in the service of a vision that truly is shared.

Lesson #3 Identify, develop and share your vision of success

The
Montrose and Blackburn Football clubs wanted to make sure that members
from both teams had an experience that showed them what playing
community football in Australia was really like. As a result of their
research they became aware that the Revolution players rarely played at
anything other than make-shift fields, and most often got changed out of
the back of cars or in tents.

In
light of this understanding, Rod, Terry and their team went to
extraordinary lengths to create the experience that the international
players would never have imagined. They approached the EFL and requested
that the football Record for the EFL 17th round be designed to feature
the USA Revolution and New Zealand Hawks teams. The EFL accepted the
request and ensured that both the cover of the record and the middle
pages were dedicated to the AFLIC14 game. This is an example of ‘managing up’.
Through Rod and Terry’s influence the EFL was able to see how they too
would benefit from helping to showcase the AFLIC14 game (they also
provided 250 extra copies of the record at no charge!).

The
Revolution squad members, coaches and support staff were all provided
with a ‘showbag’ that included a membership to the Montrose Football
Club, a miniature Montrose Football and a Montrose club cap. In
addition, each locker in the changeroom was adorned with information
about one of the USA players including their jumper number, name and
other details. This information also adorned the walls of the social
rooms. Rod and Terry explained that they had done this so that not only
would the Revolution players feel at home (and have a real
experience of having their name on a club locker), but it would also
make it easier for the Montrose players, committee and supporters to
engage with them and use their names.

It
is this level of thinking that drives high performance. To bother to
find a way to help their own community to engage with the Revolution
players on a personal level is exactly what high performing
organisations do.

Daniel Pink in his book Drive
describes ‘Purpose’ as one of the three key elements for creating
engaged and self motivated employees. This story highlights the power of
a purpose that really matters to people. People want to be part of
something bigger than themselves. Why else would all the volunteers from
the Montrose and Blackburn football clubs go to such lengths to create
the experience that they provided for the Revolution and Hawks players?
The question for you is, “How do you create a sense of purpose for
your employees? One that will genuinely engage them and enable them to
use all of their talents in the service of that purpose.”

Lesson #4 Connect with all your stakeholders

A
lasting memory for me is the image of the USA Revolution players
leaving the field at the end of their game clapping the Montrose
community as a sign of their appreciation for their support. In unison
the Montrose community clapped them back. It was a pure moment that was
about Australian Rules Football and the (now) international role that
local clubs are playing in helping to take the game beyond Australian
shores.

More
than 1,500 people attended the game including many local residents who
hadn’t been to a game (This game would normally attract about 600
people). As an introduction to the club they could not have had a better
experience. The term “win/win” is thrown around a lot these days but on
this occasion the Montrose and Blackburn football clubs did themselves
proud and could not have been better hosts for our international guests.

This
entire story was driven by volunteers, all of whom have busy lives. The
success they created was because of the power of sharing a vision that
was bigger than any person, allowing talented people to work together
for the common good, and through understanding the expectations of the
community they were serving and doing everything possible within their
limited resources to exceed those expectations.

No
doubt a lot of hard work went in to hosting the event. No success comes
without hard work. No doubt you work hard too. But you might not be
getting the success you desire. If not, re-read this article and pick
out the many lessons that will help you and your team achieve the type
of excellence that the Montrose and Blackburn football clubs provided
the USA Revolution and New Zealand Hawks Respectively.

Lesson #5 Great service builds lasting relationships

As
an anecdote to this story several Revolution players have already
commenced talks with Montrose to come out and play with them in 2015.
Montrose views this as an opportunity to strengthen their ties with
USAFL and are eager to build on their AFLIC14 experience.

My Brand new Beyond Being Good Video Series is now available for leaders who want to know how to create and sustain High Performing Teams.

I highly commend Gary Ryan’s Beyond Being Good video series to people who already are in senior management and leadership roles, to those who are coaching others and to those who are starting their personal leadership journeys. The value and strength of Gary’s style is his messages are conversational, simply expressed and succinct while at every step meaningful and empowering. You are strongly encouraged to consider this video series as a primary tool as you develop your personal leadership style and brand.